Making vinegar

I was over at the Farmer’s Market today and saw they had some fresh apple cider. I thought...oh, let’s make some cider vinegar! Unfortunately, the cider was pasteurized, but I believe that’s a law now. The only way to get raw apple cider is to press the apples yourself or have a friend who has a cider press.

But, there are ways around that.

I poured the gallon of apple cider into a container with a wide mouth and then dumped in a cup of Bragg’s raw cider vinegar. Bragg’s vinegar has mother in it which will do the same thing as putting wine making yeast in the cider. I have no idea where there is a wine making shop around here, but Bragg’s vinegar is available in just about every grocery store.

I stirred it up and tied a porous cloth over the top of the container. I’ll stir it up every day and, hopefully, after spending some time bubbling and looking positively gross, the cider will start smelling like vinegar in a month or so. Then I can strain it and pasteurize it and bottle it. If all goes according to plan, of course. I’ll also have my own supply of mother on hand for future use, too.

Home made vinegar tastes so much better than anything you can buy in a store. I’ve only made it once before, but, once I tasted it, I was ruined for regular grocery store vinegar.